Speech [The task of the ulama in their combat against unbelief]

[In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful]

If we look at the history of Islam, we will find out that the Great Prophet (s) of Islam suffered some defeat in some holy wars. In Mecca, he, at times, lived isolation unable to carry out any of his obligations. And sometimes he was confined to that cave for a long time. When he came to Medina he could advance the movement, of course, but he faced defeat at some wars.

Imam `Ali (`a), too, was defeated in his war against Mu`awiyah. In fact, his ignorant army chiefs caused his failure. Imam Husayn (`a), too, was defeated and martyred. But they had the final victory. Their religious school did not suffer even if they had casualties. They made their enemies retreat. They defeated Mu`awiyah, who had in mind to turn Islam into a great empire of the type during the era of the pre-Islamic ignorance. Yazid and his like were buried in history forever, earning the curses of people eternally. God's curses are on them forever. However, our great leaders of Islam kept their holy names. It is a point of honor for us, too, if we are defeated in such a way. We would like to meet with defeat in the same way that the holy combatants at the outset of Islam suffered. In this way, this Islamic movement will progress and our dignity will be preserved. Now our situation is different. Presently we claim that we have established an Islamic order. If we fail and if our enemies spread the rumor that the Islamic Republic is another despotic order like the previous regime, then our religious school will suffer a lot. If one of our revolutionary courts does something wrong, then our adversaries attribute this failure to the clerics. Then they will apply it to the whole class of clerics and then to Islam as such. Since they are against Islam, they will say Islam has been like this from the start. They will conclude that Islam is like other despotic regimes.

It is not the case that my failure will be attributed to me alone. You, too, share that defeat. Then they( the enemies )will spread the word that so and so has been defeated. Or, if I have committed a misdeed, they will asseverate that so and so has erred. They attribute my failure or yours to the whole of Islam. They oppose the principles of Islam and they employ pens to oppose Islam. They have decided to make us deteriorate from inside and eventually destroy us. If we were destroyed but our school remained safe, we would not worry. However, their goal is to damage our school. And this has created a great responsibility and an onerous task for all of us. If, God forbid, anyone of us commits offense, it will be unamendable. If a Friday prayer Imam misuses his position and goes after his vested interests, and if in the revolutionary courts somebody does something wrong, or somebody deliberately carries out a misdeed in the committees then the our enemies would find pretext to use their pernicious pens to attack the very base of the movement, which is Islam itself. If this happens then we will have committed an eternally unforgivable sin. If a sin is done by somebody against himself, or somebody pollutes himself that is pardonable to God. But God would not pardon anybody if he does anything wrong against Islam. Then it is a disgrace for the whole society of the clerics abroad, which can never be atoned for.

The tasks of the religious scholars are heavier than those at any time in the past. Since the inception of Islam, the clerics have not found themselves in similar conditions. When Imam `Ali (`a) was engaged in the war of Khandaq, an incident occurred which needed a lot of energy to correct. If, God forbid, Imam had shown weakness on that day, his infirmity would have been unpardonable. However, since he was not a weak man of, he succeeded. His stroke on that day was superior to the prayers of all mankind and jinn. Today, too, our Islam is facing the entire world of unbelief. Now you and I are not the issue; neither is the whole Iranian nation.

Rather, it is Islam which is at stake. It is the battle between Islam and unbelief. In this combat all of us are responsible. However, the `ulama are more responsible. It is because they are the first guardians of Islam.

Do not try to shun your tasks. This great responsibility is not over the shoulders of you gentlemen from OUrmiyeh, Azarbayjan, and Qum and Tehran only; rather, it lies on the shoulders of all the class of clerics and the whole nation. Its weight is more on the shoulders of the clerics, however.

The clerics should think. They should evaluate themselves. When a man is alone at home, he should assess the series of deeds he has done during that day; he should contemplate in private between himself and God. Everybody should weigh their daily activities, especially the clerics. This class of society bears more burden than other classes of society. If, God forbid, they deviated from the right course, the face of Islam would be blemished. Let us perform our duties in the best way possible.

Ask God to keep us away from digression. Let our nation pray for the `ulama' not to commit any faux pas since their blunders and errors are interpreted as those of Islam. All of us are responsible. However, your responsibilities are heavier than those of others. You should observe the rules more prudently with reference to the Islamic position you are in. Care more for the people. Train our society in the best way possible. Anyone whose range of influence is wider has a greater responsibility.

Implore God to grant you, the nation and us the ability to fulfill great responsibility so that we can at least face God and the people with dignity. However, they may not be able to keep this dignity before God. We are all be facing death it is inevitably evident that all of us will pass away. All of us will meet our end and we are on our way towards it. My departure from this world is nigh; because you are younger yours will come later. It is not clear when. However, death will not discriminate against anybody, either young or old. All of us will depart from this world. Try to perform your tasks in such a way that the angel of death would be amicable when he comes to see you. Endeavor so that God will not shut the gate of His blessings. Try to do good to others and close down the door of rage. Now we are living at a critical era of our history. We should avoid dispersion and division. God is watching over us. All of us are being watched: And Allah encompasses them on every side. «1» God is watchful. When your hearts meet with failures, God knows. Your eye sight is being watched by God. God is watching your tongue. Note that this is a great transient world and you are accountable to God. Now, the issue is not your performing sinful acts. The issue is not merely your accountability toward God. The issue is that today is different from the past.

At the time of the arrogance (the previous regime) if a person, either a clergy or non-clergy, performed something wrong, he was accused of being arrogant. He might even be said to be inclined towards SAVAK (Shah's horrendous secret police); but now such blunders would blemish the face of Islam.

At those times the clergy were meek. And a meek countenance is a beloved countenance. In that regime the meeker you were the more beloved you looked. However, today's countenance is not the countenance of meekness and by meekness you would not be beloved. The fact is that if these agitators got the power, they would be like their predecessors. Therefore, we have a responsibility towards Islam. We are responsible for Muslims as well. We are responsible for the clerics. The more influential you are the more responsible you are. You should try to hand down Islam to your offsprings in a good way. Do not blemish it. Islam is full of light. Do not darken it.

If we are defeated today, we will stay defeated forever. At one time, we used to say that arrogance was dominant and were looking for an Islamic government. This was what we wished for. The nation, too, shouted for an Islamic government. But now, God forbid, if we failed due to the wrong doings of some of us, or of those of the political parties, and if we were pitted against with one another, we would destroy Islam. And the foreign powers are waiting for such a moment. They have all the media propagation against us. We, as a poor nation, had one weapon, and that was our faith. And this sole weapon might be taken from us.

In some, so-called Muslim, countries, the principles of Islam have not been put in to use. An Islamic government is unique in that justice is employed by it. So we claim, and we are right in our claiming, that these so-called Muslim countries are not Muslim states at all. Now if we do something wrong in our government, the people of the world would claim that Iran is not a Muslim country because they pretend to be Muslims, but their behavior shows something else. And this is the behavior of the hypocrites. At the outset of Islam, there were a group of hypocrites whose actions were different from their beliefs. They pretended to be Muslims when they were not.

We claim we are Muslim clerics. Therefore, we should endeavor to deserve such a title. We should not call vainglorious ourselves good and consider other as bad. When we claim that it is our task to spread the principles of Islam, that we want to strengthen the principles of Islam, that we love Islam and that we are familiar with the Islamic principles, we have to disseminate the Islamic laws. Is it not hypocrisy on our part to behave, God forbid, constitution to what we claim that we have an absolute faith in Islam, that we believe in all its principle and that we are faithful and righteous? pretend to be pious when we are not? Will we not be like Abou Sufyan, the hypocrite? He used to preach the faith, which he never had. You and I are saying you are Muslims, but if we act otherwise, then we are hypocrites. You claim that you are Muslims and declare your absolute faith but you are hypocrites. What is important is that Islam is in our hands. It is God's trust in our hands. We have to pass it on to our offsprings as it truly is. We must present Islam to the world as it truly is. We should not depict Islam abroad any other way; we should present it the way it truly is. It makes no difference whether one is young seminarian or novice who has just entered the[ theological ]school. We ourselves should not blemish Islam through our wrong actions student and you, mature Islamic scholars, who are working at the mosques. Of course, your tasks as mature clerics are more than those of that of a simple seminary student like me. All are responsible but responsibilities vary between light and heavy according to variations among people and the differences in the extent of their understanding. Act in a way that Islam or the Holy Qu'ran will be pleased with us. Do not do anything which is contrary to the Holy Qur'an. In that case the Holy Qur'an would ask you why you did or are doing something that you put Islam in a bad light before the people.

Be extremely prudent; this is perilous position you are in. This turban puts you in danger. Likewise, these beards jeopardize your position. Save yourselves away from dangers; protect yourselves. Everybody should also be aware. Islam is not just for the clerics; it belongs to all. God has endowed all of us with this trust. Those of you who work as the Islamic guards are guarding Islam, not the arrogance. If you act in a way similar to that in the previous regime then people of weak faith will wish the revolution had not taken place so they would not have to put up with the[ ill behavior of some ][ Islamic ]guard. Their statements might be false; nevertheless, such comments will be made. And under these conditions you have equipped the agitators to make false propaganda against you.

And this issue does not pertain to you and me alone. This applies to the nation. A nation who has voted for an Islamic order should behave accordingly. An Islamic guard, then, is not allowed to behave differently; neither is the businessman. Islam implies order and order is compulsory in all of our activities. We have claimed that we have established an Islamic order and that we have changed an arrogant government into an Islamic one; from the evil regime, we have been transferred into the realm of light, into God; we have emerged out of the satanic rule and stepped into rule of compassion. It is for these reasons that the entire nation voted for [the Islamic republic]. Now, we have to behave in accordance with Islamic rules. If we behave in the manner of the arrogant, then we are hypocrites for sure.

We have to change. The whole nation should undergo a transformation. We should not be merely content with the notion that we moved from arrogance into Islam. We have to transform internally. We have to change and improve our soul. If our soul has been under the satanic domination, now we should liberate ourselves from the evil shackles. We should head from a devilish state into a divine one. And that happens only if we carried out the Islamic standards and criteria. Usury is against Islamic rules. It is a war enjoined by God; as the Qu'ran says," Take notice of war from God" Join God in this war. These people [early Muslims] waged a war [against the usurers].

If the Muslims' bazaars are still in the form that they were at the previous arrogant regime, the traders and businessmen could not claim that they have accepted an Islamic regime. The opposite is true. You are still under the satanic influence.

This is an issue that applies to all; first, we have to face it and then all of you should follow suit. First, we are responsible; we clerics, and then you are responsible. Think of Islam and do not let it get hurt by us. Islam will get hurt in the hands of enemies, but if we stayed united it would be invulnerable. However, if we quarreled with one another or if we trespassed the Islamic codes and violated God's commands, we will get harmed. These conflicts and feuds would disintegrate us from within. All those agitators who plundered the assets of this nation now are plotting and are aware of our internal conditions. Never be frightened of a military intervention. It would be to our benefit if they carried out military assaults or economic sanctions against us. If they do so, we will work harder. We should not bother our external enemies; rather, we should fear our internal foes, i. e. our feuds, disagreements and conflicts. If I curse you and, God forbid you curse me, the order will be hampered. If different political parties stood face to face, and the number of these parties is increasing each day, they would render our cooperation null and void. However, if they stood united and worked for God, and if they carried out their daily functions as grocers, or as clergies, they would succeed. But the political parties which are established in Iran are antagonistic towards one another, each one curses his friend. This is exactly what our enemies are after. They like us to increase the number of these parties so that unity would be hurt in this country. When we have differences in our parties, we would also have other problems of greater magnitude: the diversity of languages could be the next issue. All of these are plots. These are the turmoils which are being created for us. They force us to carry out these plans for them. They would benefit from our internal conflicts. May God protect us against these internal conflicts.

May God confirm your actions. May you be successful. I thank you, gentlemem, for having come to this humble house of mine.